U.S. financial giant Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) released financial results on Friday showing the company’s 2012 first quarter results exceeded the expectations of Wall Street analysts.
According to the financial statements released by Wells Fargo, the company generated net income of $4.25 billion for the first quarter of 2012, or earnings per share of $.75, compared with net income of $3.76 billion, or $ 0.67 per share for the first quarter of 2011. Wells Fargo realized revenues of $21.64 billion for the first quarter of 2012, an increase of 6.5 percent over the same period in 2011.
Wells Fargo’s financial results exceeded Wall Street analyst expectations. According to the previous survey by Bloomberg, analysts on average projected the company’s first quarter earnings per share of $0.73 and revenues of $20.4 billion.
San Francisco-based Wells Fargo also said that over the entire first quarter, the company’s overall average core checking and deposits increased by $ 7.8 billion. The company realized the highest quarterly revenues over the past nine quarters and has achieved growth for the ninth consecutive quarter.
At the same time, Wells Fargo’s credit quality continued to improve in the first quarter of this year. Consumer net bad debt rate has dropped by 11 basis points to 1.91 percent. Provisions for bad debts were $2.4 billion in the first quarter of this year. Wells Fargo also announced a substantial increase in its quarterly dividend from the previous 12 cents a share to 22 cents per share.